(CNS News) – As of Oct. 5, the national average price of regular unleaded gas was $3.831, with top blue states charging over a dollar more and top red states charging just below the national average.
The top three highest state averages were California ($6.425 a gallon), Nevada ($5.536) and Oregon ($5.476) for regular unleaded gas, reported AAA.
Meanwhile, the top three lowest state averages for a gallon of unleaded gas, on Oct. 5, were Mississippi ($3.093), Louisiana ($3.137) and Texas ($3.147).
Recently, gas prices have been on an upward trend. One month ago, the average was $3.779 nationwide and one year ago, $3.221. When President Donald Trump left office in January 2021, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.232, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Using EIA data, AAA reported on Oct. 3, “gas demand increased nationally from 8.32 million b/d [barrels per day] to 8.83 million b/d last week. Total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 2.4 million bbl to 212.2 million bbl. If demand remains robust as supply tightens, drivers should brace for rising pump prices through the weekend.”
When asked whether President Joe Biden was responsible for the rise in gas prices, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “It’s a lot more nuanced than that.”
At the White House daily briefing on Oct. 4, Fox News Journalist Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre, “You’ve said the president was responsible for gas prices coming down. Is the president responsible for gas prices going up?”
Jean-Pierre replied, “So, it’s a lot more nuanced than that … There have been global challenges that we have all dealt with. When I say ‘all,’ meaning other countries as well have dealt with since the pandemic. There’s been pandemic and there’s been Putin’s war. And Putin’s war has increased gas prices at the pump. We have seen that over the past several months.”
“And what the president was able to do – he took some historic steps, when you think about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and making sure that we were able to do everything that we can to bring that cost down for American families, give them a little bit more of a breathing room,” said Jean-Pierre. “And we saw that. We saw that every day this summer, saving American families over a dollar per gallon.”
“And so that is what the president is going to continue to stay focused on – are American consumers,” she added. “How do we continue to keep prices down? That’s why we did the Inflation Reduction Act. That’s why we talk about the CHIPS Act. All of these things are going to help Americans here in this country.”
However, a few weeks ago, gas prices were down about 26% from the $5 high that Americans experienced last June. Scott Pelley on 60 minutes asked Biden how he planned to keep gas prices down while Putin is “throttling energy supplies.”
“Well, there’s a couple things we’ve done,” Biden answered. “For example, remember I got some criticism for releasing a million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. And then along came the industry saying they’d produce another million barrels a day by the spring. So, I think we’re relatively in good shape.”